Specialist Subject
by Daemon hunter
Summary: Every doctor takes a specialist subject. Rose never imagined the Doctor’s would wind up revolving heavily around the notion of chocolate cake. This is both as silly and not as silly as it sounds.


_Specialist Subject_

_Summary:_ Every doctor takes a specialist subject. Rose never imagined the Doctor's would wind up revolving heavily around the notion of chocolate cake. This is both as silly and not as silly as it sounds.

"Are you alright?" he asked, trying at the same time to force a thermometer down her throat. With his stethoscope round his shoulders, he might well have passed for a doctor if he was in a white coat, and if that wasn't irony, Rose Tyler didn't know what was. She shrugged away, so that the thermometer fell short, but he was on her again in a flash, putting his palm on her forehead. "Hmm, your core body temperature is point 3 degrees lower than it should be. I think you're coming down with something."

She plucked his hand from her forehead; rather a bit unsettled by the way he was acting. After first acting like a real doctor, and then doing a spitting imitation of her mum whenever she coughed or sneezed, Rose wondered when the Doctor had decided to throw in his life of saving the world in order to become an impressionist. "I'm fine," she said. "But what about you, Doctor? You've gone all doctor-ish on me."

"Well that's me," he said with his goofy smile. "The Doctor, the one, the only… well, actually I'm the 10th one, but never mind. And of course, every good doctor knows when there's something up with his patient." And with that, he extracted a miniature torch from his coat pocket and started shinning it in her eyes before she could blink, which she did afterward, copiously. "Pupils fully dilated. That is interesting."

"Doctor, stop it, will ya?" she demanded, waving away the torch wielding hand. "I said… wait, did you just pull that torch out of your pocket?"

The Doctor examined it as if he'd never seen it before, something which always amused her to no end. No matter how clever he was, he never seemed to be all there. "Yeah, I think so."

"And the thermometer?"

"Oh yes," he said with an enigmatic smile.

"So, do you have a whole first aid kit in there or something?" she asked, pointing to his coat pocket.

"No, no, no," he said shaking his head. "Don't be ridiculous. Just a box of plasters," he said, extracting a small, green box, reading the label briefly and dumping it on the TARDIS console, "a roll of bandages, a few aspirin… bit dangerous these actually, some of Mrs Migloon's Patented Cough Medicine." He paused to look at the bottom of the box, "Hang on, this is three years out of date. Anyway," he threw the box behind him without looking, somehow landing it squarely in the bin, "some eye drops, a bezoar from Raxacoricofallapatorius, pretty rare these," he held out a small, yellow stone. "The vendor wanted an arm and a leg for it… quite literally actually. Anyway, what else do we have? Nanogene capsules, resizing gun-"

"Wait," Rose interrupted, amused at the sight of the purple, almost horseshoe shaped 'gun' he held in his hand. "You mean you've had a shrink ray all this time and you've never told me?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Rose. Shrink rays don't exist, unlike resizing guns, which do. And just in case you were interested, I also have some acupuncture needles, aromatic candles, a postcard from Bognor Regis from 1956 and a box of chocolate cake." By the time, he'd emptied the contents of his pocket, half the TARDIS console was cluttered with medical paraphernalia, with a chocolate cake in a clear Tupperware container sitting on top of it all.

"So you carry all that around in your coat pocket?" Rose asked, still a little disbelieving. It didn't surprise her in terms of volume, since after all she was standing on a ship which was bigger on the inside, but rather that he carried it at all.

He nodded.

"And you carry around a whole chocolate cake too?"

He looked from her to the cake and back again, as if had been the most natural thing in the world. "Well, it _is_ the best natural medicine known to mankind."

They stared at each other for a moment, before bursting out into a fit of laughter. As if it were medicine in itself, she felt better just for laughing, like all her few worries and cares were all millions of light-years away. "You ain't serious. Are you?" she added, when the Time Lord flashed her a particularly potent smile.

"No, course not," he said. "Laughing, that's much better for you. See, it's taken years off your face."

"Oi, you're not too old for a slap," Rose retorted, whacking him on the arm for good measure, though he managed to dodge at the last second so her hand only caught empty air. Before she knew it, he was on the other side of the TARDIS console, grinning at her tauntingly. She knew his game, using the console like a shield, just like she did using tables with her classmates that time when they drove Mrs. Abernavy so spare that she fled the building.

"Ah, but you see Miss Tyler, I might not be too old, but I'm too fast."

"Is that right?"

"I'm always right. If I was ever wrong, the universe would probably cave in on itself."

Though she wanted to laugh again, Rose instead leaned over the cluttered TARDIS panel, trying to guess which way the Doctor would go. She stared him down as best she could with the column in the way, but he just met her gaze with a winning smile. Flinching to the right, the Doctor did the same in the opposite direction, before realizing that she was messing with him. "Got you," she taunted.

He didn't answer, simply waiting and playing his Time Lord mind games with her, glance left, then right, then at her again, still smiling as if he was having the time of his life, which, if Rose knew the Doctor, he was. Rose smirked right back, settling into the waiting game, impatiently waiting for him to make the first move. The Doctor on the other hand, had shifted along the console slightly, dragging the Tupperware container to him without ever taking his eyes off her. He had such an enigmatic gaze, she'd always thought, and even taking the lid off the Tupperware she didn't take her eyes away. Sometimes, like now, she could just lose herself in those eyes, so wise and knowledge and burning with enthusiasm, but she dragged herself out of her reverie. No matter how interesting a Time Lord's eyes were, she wasn't about to lose this game.

The Doctor made it easy for her, when he broke the competitive silence. "Cake?" he offered, holding out the open Tupperware with one hand whilst grasping a slice of the cake in the other.

She glanced down at the cake. It did look delicious, but she wasn't about to let herself be bribed. "No, thanks," she replied, as he took a bite out of his slice.

"Ah go on," he said, with cream around the corners of his mouth. "Theodore Roosevelt's wife made it. Edith, lovely woman, excellent baker. Just because I suggested that her husband put his speech in his breast pocket… did slow the bullet down I suppose. Amazing man, Theodore Roosevelt. Gave his 100 page speech with the bullet still in him. Got a standing-"

As he was rambling, Rose took the opportunity to dart around the TARDIS console. He only just managed to notice in time, and then took off backwards with the Tupperware still in his hand. Rose chased him around the TARDIS, but just as she reached out to grab his coat, he leapt back violently and dropped the plastic container. "Steady on, Rose," he taunted, whipping around and taking up a new position on the console. As he looked down, she almost died and went to heaven seeing the look of disappointment on his face. "The cake! You've ruined the cake!"

"You dropped it!" she shot back. "I'm not the one with butterfingers."

"But you started chasing me."

"You were rambling. I wasn't going to waste the opportunity."

The Doctor groaned in frustration, comically bereft. "I can't believe you made me drop the cake. I've been saving it since 1913."

"Wait, so you've had that," she pointed in the general direction of the fallen confectionary, "for like, 90 years or something?"

"It's been in my pocket," he replied with an expression as if that made it alright by default. "It's only been there since 1913. Edith Roosevelt made it! Do you know how long it took the former First Lady to make that?"

She'd seen the doctor angry more than once: at Harriet Jones' blowing up of the Sycorax on Christmas Day for instance, and it wasn't uncommon for him to get exasperated with uncooperative foes, which was why seeing him like that with a little bit of grief mixed in was what sent Rose into another fit of laughter.

"What's so funny?" he asked, oblivious as ever

"Your face," she said, pointing and doubling over so much that she had to grab onto the console for support. "You getting go worked up over a cake. It's hilarious."

For a moment, the Doctor looked incredibly affronted, as if her laughing at his reaction was somehow insulting. But then he raised an eyebrow (a skill Rose believed only a Time Lord was capable of, never being able to do it herself, despite hours of practice in front of the vanity mirror in her bedroom) and turned rather pensive. Resting his chin on his hand, he reminded her vividly of that statue of the thinking man, except that he had clothes on. Which was just as well really.

Her train of thought was abruptly broken by the Doctor's short bark of laughter. "Yeah, I suppose it is. You're right of course. Rose Tyler, Miss Right, lady of correctisity... new word there, ought to patent it. Still, it was a lovely cake. Ah, but look," he said, reaching over the TARDIS controller and breaking out into another smile. "Just where I left it. The last of the cake slices. Oh, you and I have such a lot in common. Last of our kinds, and delicious to boot… hold on, am I talking to a cake? …Must be going mad. Who would've guessed? Rose? Rose? Are you even listening?"

Rose blinked, only now realizing that her thoughts had been running away with her. "Sorry, what?"

"Seriously Rose, have you listened to a word I said. No wonder you're always running off when I tell you not too."

"That was just that one time in the parallel universe."

"And when we went back to 1953 and you got absorbed by the Wire. And before that with the ship with the clockwork robots and the charming Madame de Pompadour. And lest we forget your little explorations at the Hospital in New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York."

"Hold on," Rose interrupted, wagging a menacing finger. "That one wasn't my fault." When the Doctor raised a skeptical Time Lord eyebrow, her voice raised an octave defensively before she could stop herself. "Hey, I couldn't help it when Cassandra started messing about with the lift controls."

"How do you know it was Cassandra?" he asked, leaning on the console with one hand and holding the slice of cake with another.

"Well, who else could it have been?"

"I don't know," the Doctor said, running a hand through his immaculate hair. "Could well have been a Variable Electrical Wire Sentiency Virus, Mark 3. It can read minds and intentions. Nasty little bugger, that one. Had a particularly vicious run in with it on Rigel 6."

Rose smiled. "You just made that up, didn't you?"

"No, of course not." Rose put her hands on her hips, attempting to raise an eyebrow in the singular but failing. "Well, it might be a bit made up."

"See, so it's not always my fault," she said, knowing she was victorious.

"Well, maybe not all of the time. But I've lost count of the number of times you've run off after I tell you not too."

"What's the point of traveling if you're not going to see the sights?" she said, starting to circle the TARDIS console towards him. "Isn't that why you brought me along?" Before he could answer, she slapped him on the arm.

"Ow," he said, holding his arm where she'd hit him. "What was that for?"

"Don't think I forgot what you said," she answered, taking her hand back. "I don't look old."

"Well…" the Doctor said, glancing up at the ceiling as if lost in thought. That was until Rose took what she hoped was a menacing step forward, which made him look back down again. "What I mean is…" he said, trying to cover. "Cake?" he asked, offering the slice in his hand with a big bite missing out of it.

Attempting to raise an eyebrow (and once again failing) Rose regarded the cake as if it was toxic. "Thanks, but I think I'll pass."

"Oh go on. Edith Roosevelt made it," he said, as if that was a surefire way to convince her. "Go on, you'll never have another opportunity. Besides, your core body temperature is-"

"Point 3 degrees lower than it should be," Rose broke in, interrupting the Doctor mid-sentence. For a moment, his mouth hung open stupidly, as if shocked that she had dared interrupt him at all. It was good to speak over _him_ for a change. "And how exactly is chocolate cake going-"

"Ah, ah, ah, chocolate cake _baked_ by Edith Roosevelt," he interrupted in turn.

"Fine, how exactly is chocolate cake 'baked by Edith Roosevelt'," she said, exaggerating the last few words, "going to help put my temperature up?"

"Well, it's not, like I said," the Doctor replied, adopting his thoughtful expression and his eyes rolling to the ceiling. Then his eyes snapped back to her. "But it'll make you feel better, and I have to say that it's perhaps the third best chocolate cake ever baked in the history of the universe."

Rose smiled at that. She loved how he could be so analytical sometimes. "So go on, which ones are better?"

The Doctor smiled wistfully, as if remembering fond memories, which he probably was. She half expected him to sigh with the nostalgia. "Oh Rose, if only you'd been there at the Treaty of Chocolate Cake, back in the old days. The Ascintans, a bit like humans except fifteen feet tall (had a lot of back problems), anyway they offered an alliance to the Yari, who were… have you ever seen Alien?"

"Yeah," Rose replied, wondering where he was going with that. Then he raised a perfectly toned eyebrow, which seemed to say more than words ever could. "No way," she replied.

"Where do you think Ridley Scott got the idea? But anyway, the Ascintans offered a giant chocolate cake, the size of the TARDIS (the inside, mind you), to the Yari. I just happened to be on Yara 2 at the time. My god, that cake was well baked; mind you… it was poisoned. Started a war that lasted a thousand years."

"How did that end then? The Treaty of Christmas Cake?" Rose said, chuckling at the utterly abstract idea of a war that started with a chocolate cake.

"No, of course not," the Doctor replied, laughing a little. "They didn't celebrate Christmas. They called it Yarpatox Cake. Didn't bother turning up for that one. Yarpatox tasted a bit like raw sewage, so naturally the Yari loved it."

"So let me get this straight," Rose said, brushing some hair out of her eyes. "A big war got started because someone baked a massive poisoned chocolate cake and ended when someone else baked a Yaranox-,"

"Yarpatox," the Doctor corrected.

"Yarpatox cake," Rose reiterated. "So what was the war called?"

"It was a Time War."

A Time War? Suddenly, the air in the TARDIS seemed to go a notch colder, or perhaps that was just her. She shivered a little at the title and any laughter that might've been on her lips before died there. The Doctor, aside from the beginnings of the basics of the basics, had never discussed the Time War with her, or, to the extent of her knowledge, with anyone. That he mentioned it all struck her as momentous.

That was until the Doctor started speaking again, clearly having seen the look of shock on her face. Until then, she hadn't realized it was so obvious, but Captain Jack had always said she wore her heart on her sleeve. "No, not the last Time War. Theirs was the… fourteenth I believe. They were the best of friends afterwards. In fact, they fought side by side at Ascinta… all gone now." The Doctor paused and seemed to go inside himself, lost in thought. Though she didn't know the name of the planet, Rose could guess what had happened. There was no need to ask.

The Daleks. The Doctor's arch enemies, those who had taken so much from him. Having seen them herself on two occasions, she knew just how destructive they could be. They must not have stood a chance. It was rare to see the Doctor this withdrawn, even when he'd told her about the Time War in the past. She placed a hand on his arm. His gaze slipped to hers and she gave him a smile. He wasn't the only one who could say things with expression alone.

He placed his free hand on hers for a moment, and then broke away. "Still, never mind. What were we talking about? Ah yes, chocolate cake," he said, answering his own question, whilst glancing at the slice he still held in his right hand. "So that was the second best. The best was made by an Earth girl, English actually, goes by the name of Jane Lockhart, met her in 1965 when she was a girl. We had tea and everything. I'll have to take you to meet her one day, though I doubt she'd recognize me now. It's the ears, y'see," he added, just as she was about to ask why, causing her to wonder (not for the first time) whether he could read her mind _without_ the need to touch her.

She hoped not. That'd make things very awkward indeed, though she doubted he would even if he could. All she would have to do is threaten to tell her mum. Over time, she had become ever more certain that he was scared of Jackie; after all she'd slapped him twice and kissed him once. That'd be enough to put the fear of god in anyone. Her mum was a fierce lady when she wanted to be.

He raised an eyebrow at her (again), as if in agreement, but before she could question him why, he started shoving the slice of cake under her nose again. Well, not literally, but it was close enough that she could smell it. "Go on, you know you want to try the last slice of the third nicest chocolate cake in the history of the universe."

"Fine, give it here," she said, swiping it from his fingers. She had to confess, it did look nice, even if the Doctor had already taken a massive bite out of it, speaking of whom… The Time Lord was staring between the cake and her, massive grin on his face, much like her cat Puffin used to do whenever she had chicken for dinner, minus the grin obviously. "Okay, you're creeping me out a little. A bit less insistent, please?"

The Doctor took a step back, which she supposed helped a bit, if not a lot. With the way he was acting, Rose was beginning to suspect some sort of prank. Perhaps it tasted like spinach or something, and Time Lords just had a really quirky sense of taste. Well, there was only one way to find out.

Repressing the desire to hold her nose, as if she was about to eat a raw fish, Rose took a taste. Chewing cautiously, at first she didn't really taste anything, until her taste buds kicked in a moment later. All of a sudden there was an explosion of sweetness in her mouth, so much so that she couldn't help but state her approval immediately. As she was still chewing though, all her words came out garbled.

"Good?" the Doctor asked.

Unable to talk, Rose just nodded her head vigorously. This Roosevelt woman must've been quite the catch if she could bake like this. She was almost reluctant to swallow, it tasted so good, but in the end it just wound up melting in her mouth anyway. "That was better than se- uh, sugar," she exclaimed, covering what she had planned to say with the first S-word she could think of. It didn't seem to cover quite well enough though, if the Doctor's sudden awkward demeanor was anything to go by.

"Right," he said, averting his eyes to the TARDIS console and flipping one of the switches randomly. A shudder went through the ship. "Oops, sorry old girl, didn't mean to press that one." He pulled on the lever beside it, and somewhere up towards the ceiling, she could hear the sound of an air freshener. "A bit stuffy in here isn't it?" he said, tugging at his collar for emphasis.

She nodded along, "Yeah, very." Still a bit awkward with her faux pas, she took another bite out of the slice of cake, eager to do anything to break the awkwardness. It certainly helped, tasting as good as it did, so much so that she couldn't resist 'mmm-ing' in pleasure. If she'd been looking at the Doctor that moment, she might have just seen a flicker of something odd, before the Time Lord regained his usual manner with a clap of his hands.

"Right, first thing's first," he said, clearly trying to seem dramatic, but rather spoiling the effect when he held his hand out. "Can I have my cake back?"

She grinned at him, "No way, you gave it to me. You can't take back a gift."

"It wasn't a gift. I was just sharing. Now, you've had two bites, so if you give it back I'll give you the last little bit."

"Or," Rose interrupted, leaning forward as if to whisper in his ear. Insatiable as she knew his curiosity was, she wasn't at all surprised when he leaned in too. "I could _not_ give _my_ cake back and eat it myself." And she did just that, taking another massive bite out of it, only partially aware that she was spreading chocolate all over her face like some sort of excitable seven year old. She was too entertained by the horrified look on the Doctor's face to care.

The Doctor suddenly straightened. "Now, Rose Tyler, be a good girl and share."

Shielding the slice of cake like a new born baby, Rose took a step back, smiling a teasing smile. "Get your own," she replied. There was only a bit of the slice left after all.

For some reason she couldn't quite figure out, the Doctor smiled at that. "Okey dokey," he replied, though for a moment nothing happened, save for her continued, slow munches on the mouthful of cake. Then he looked over her shoulder. "Oh, hello Jackie, didn't see you there."

"What?" Rose mumbled through her mouthful of cake, automatically looking over her shoulder. A split second later, she realized her error, realizing there was no way her mum could be on the ship without her knowing about it. And a split second was all the Doctor needed to pinch what remained of the cake right out of her hand. When what had happened finally registered properly, she found the Doctor grinning at her like some sort of imp, cake in hand. "Oi, you little thief. That's mine."

"Well, technically it was mine first, so I was just stealing it back from you. Hey, how about that? I've just proved that two wrongs can make a right. I should write that down."

"It's not like you were the first one ever to think of that," she retorted.

"Yes, I am. Here's me, thinking it, before anyone else. It'll take the blokes on your planet years to come up with that, and they probably won't credit me in their book either."

Despite the fact that he'd just participated in the heinous crime of cake-theft, right under her very nose (well, technically not under, as her nose hadn't been over the cake at the time), Rose couldn't help but smile a tiny, little bit at the Doctor's antics. As much as she loved their adventures, it was this that she could never bear to be without, their banter. It was just so very… them.

"Pull the other one. Who's gonna bother coming up with a theory like that?"

"I dunno. Researchers?" he answered with the utmost sincerity, so much so that he was wearing his 'serious' face, as she liked to call it. But there was a crack in his expression, and before long both of them were grinning like idiots. Then they began to laugh like them too, Rose hardly remembering what it was she was laughing about. The Doctor was right; laughter was excellent medicine for any ailment.

Slowly their laughter began to dissipate, and they leaned against the console and against each other, the Doctor slinging an arm across her shoulders. She was still smiling, her face almost ached from the feeling, but she couldn't stop. It was moments like these Rose loved; they were just so comfortable and warm. Outside the TARDIS doors, a million billion bad things were happening, most of which they would probably have to sort out eventually, but right now, she didn't care. There were just the three of them, him, her and the TARDIS, and she didn't need anything or anyone else.

"But I was being serious, y'know," the Doctor said after a while, breaking the contented silence. "Researchers will research just about anything in the 21st century. Just wait until you get to 2008. A bunch of researchers were paid to figure out what makes the perfect Yorkshire pudding."

She looked up. "You're joking, right?"

"No, honestly. I swear on my right heart that it happened… or happens. Apparently, they're supposed to be four inches deep and as big as a dinner plate."

"Four inches? But that's huge, for a Yorkshire."

"I know but there you have it. Human researchers – will research anything for cash. Oh, and speaking of 2008, don't worry about all the hype. The Large Hadron Colider doesn't destroy the world. That's just the tabloids making stuff up."

Rose looked at him blankly. As much as she loved the Doctor's banter, he didn't half confuse her at times. "What?"

"Ah, doesn't matter, you have all that science-y jiggery-pokery to look forward to. Right, on to more important things, like-"

"Like my cake," Rose interrupted, spotting the offending article still in his hand.

"Actually, I think you'll find it's my cake."

"Yeah, in a parallel universe or something. But, technically speaking, it's mine. So give it 'ere."

The Doctor sighed, then placed what tiny bit of the cake remained on a plate (where had that come from, Rose wondered) and balanced it on the console. "Right, there's only one way to settle this."

"Coin toss," Rose said, just as the Doctor said, "Arm wrestle." The Time Lord blinked. "Yeah, I hadn't thought of that. I like your idea better. Much less violent." With that, he extracted a coin, while Rose imagined what that arm wrestle would be like. If Jack was here, he'd probably bet on her. She was still musing on this when the Doctor called, "Heads and the cake is mine."

The gold coin flipped through the air and landed neatly again in the Doctor's palm. Putting it on the back of his other hand, he drew his first hand away and a smile broke out across his face. "Heads!" he exclaimed. "I win."

But Rose wasn't ready to give up just yet. If she knew the Doctor (which she did, better than anyone else she liked to think, except for him obviously) she wouldn't be the least surprised if there was a bit of trickery going on here. "Hold on," she said, just as the Doctor was about to claim his prize, "let's see the coin."

"Why?"

"'Cause, I remember watching this western film once when Uncle Bob came over. There was this guy who kept winning all these coin tosses, 'cause he had a coin which had heads on both sides. So c'mon, let's have a look at it."

"C'mon Rose. Don't your trust me?" Rose attempted to raise an eyebrow, failing yet again, but she guessed that her general expression was enough. The Doctor held his hand out, palm still facing downward, and she found that he was at least being truthful about it being heads. Picking up the coin, her eyes briefly scanned the face before she flipped the coin and, to her disappointment, found it was just the same as any other coin. Just a little dejected, she about to hand the coin back when she had a brainwave. Flipping it back so the heads side was up, she looked at the face of the monarch on the pound coin again.

"His royal Majesty… no!" Rose looked up at the Doctor in amazement. "He becomes the King?"

The Doctor smiled oh so knowledgeably. "2017 was a very fun year for the British," was all he would say.

"But how? Shouldn't Charles be king or something?"

"He was. Decided it was more fun to make organic sausages, so he abdicated. They, and when I say They, I mean _They_, put him on the throne to try and get the kids interested in politics."

"Did it work?" she asked, immeasurably curious.

"Let's just say that when he encouraged people to vote in the 2020 elections, there was a turnout of 98%."

"Not bad I guess," Rose exclaimed, handing the coin back. "I don't suppose we could stop off at the bookies next time we go back home? Joke," she added, when the Doctor adopted her serious 'serious' face. "Anyhow, shouldn't you be enjoying your cake?"

The Doctor's eyes widened, evidently having forgotten all about it. For such an intelligent man, he wasn't half scatterbrained. "Ah right, yes, I was just about too actually." He plucked the cake off the plate, and then did something with it that Rose found quite extraordinary. He split what remained in half and handed her the biggest bit. "There you go. Enjoy." As though it was a nugget of mythril or something, Rose couldn't help but stare at it, then at the Doctor. "Well, I could hardly enjoy my bit if you were going without."

It was the most unexpected thing, but that little gift almost brought tears to her eyes. Her tear ducts were certainly aching to perform at any rate. "Well, aren't you the sweetest little thing… well, after," she nodded down at the cake.

"Well, obviously, after the cake," the Doctor replied with a wink. "On the count of three?"

Rose nodded. "One," they said together, "two, three. Start scoffing," added the Doctor.

She did just that, throwing the small piece of chocolate cake into her mouth and chewing with ecstasy, closing her eyes just to savor the taste all the more. But after a moment she opened them again, finding a similar look of delight on the Doctor's face. It was rare to see such an expression on the 900 year-old-or-so Time Lord, and she was torn between wanting to watch him and to enjoy the cake. Well, she decided, she could do both, just as the Doctor stumbled a bit and had to lean heavily on the console.

"Es is eely good," he said through his mouthful of cake. She nodded, knowing she couldn't have put it better herself.

Then, almost as soon as she'd started chewing, the last of the cake was gone. Once again, she leaned back against the console, content and a little disappointed that it was gone. It wasn't like they could pop down the shops for another one. Unless…

"So Doctor, where're we goin' now?"

The Doctor gulped, somehow managing to make his slice last minutely longer, which she was jealous of. "I dunno... We never did see Barcelona though, did we? Great place, Barcelona, where the dogs have no noses," he laughed at that, as they had all that time ago, which wasn't that long ago really, when the Doctor had had another face and a Northern accent. "I was right. That joke never does get tiresome. So, Barcelona," he said, flipping down a nearby lever, "fancy it?"

"Or we could go back to 1913," she offered, "but I suppose we can't. You crossing your own timeline and all that. I guess we don't want a paradox." To her surprise, the Doctor suddenly leaped up, cupped her face and kissed her on the forehead. Slightly breathless (and a lot surprised) she just about managed to ask, "What was that all about?"

"Sorry, I just love it when my companions finally realize that time paradoxes are a big no-no. You're growing up Rose. I'd go so far as to say you're the third best companion I've ever had." Rose put her hands on her hips. "Second best, then." She lifted a hand and started examining her nails, wondering if they might break the Doctor's skin if she started strangling him. "Okay, okay, only joking, you're the best companion I've ever had traveling with me, bar none. Besides, every Doctor should have a specialist subject, and I didn't realize what mine was until I met you."

"Go on then, what is it?"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, and whispered the answer in her ear, as if it was a secret.

"Right then, Barcelona," he said a moment later, bringing the Vortex Loop down, but Rose hardly noticed.


End file.
